Bronx woman sentenced to a year in jail for illegal butt lift procedures

Performing illegal buttocks enhancement procedures landed a Bronx, N.Y. woman in jail for a year

CBS

(CBS) NEW YORK CITY - Bronx woman Whalesca Castillo was sentenced to a year in jail for doing illegal cosmetic surgery, buttocks lifts, in her home from May 2009 to January 2011, according to the New York Daily News.

Castillo, 37, was doing $1,500 butt lifts with illegal injections of silicone without a medical license.

The feds first found out about her illegal procedures when an unhappy customer reported Castillo in August 2010.

Prosecutors said the woman had paid Castillo for a silicone injection to the backside and was experiencing pain and shortness of breath. She later fainted and was revived by her boyfriend.

The woman had asked Castillo if she should go to the hospital, but Castillo told her the hospital wouldn't help her, because it had been done illegally, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors also told of another woman who had the procedure done and was leaking blood and liquid. When she texted Castillo, asking her if this was normal, she replied saying, "Buy some crazy glue and put it on."

After her arrest in January 2011, Castillo had been out on bail, but was arrested again after prosecutors found that she had moved to a different location and continued to perform the injections.

Authorities say she made more than $100,000 performing illegal cosmetic surgery, the Daily News reported.

The defense requested that she be sentenced to a year and a day in jail, so she could get credit for good behavior.

However, Manhattan Federal Court Judge Leonard Sand rejected it, telling the Daily News that "Given the nature of her problems, I think she will need the (mental) treatment that I hope she will be receiving during the period of incarceration."

The Food and Drug Administration prohibits injections of silicone gel
to fill wrinkles or augment tissues anywhere in the body, because of
public and health safety concerns.

"What she did is a public health hazard. People have died from this conduct," prosecutor Sarah Lai told the Daily News.